There is always a ‘but’ in this imperfect world.
Helen Graham, a character in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848), Ch. XXII: ‘Traits of Friendship,’ by Anne Brontë (writing as Acton Bell)
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Anne Brontë
Paul’s weekend wrap-up, in audio:
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This Week in Democracy?
Paul Jacob finishes his weekend wrap-up with stories on Colorado’s TABOR, a squeak by for republican governance with citizen hero Ron Calzone, and the weirdness surrounding the corporate media’s attitudes towards whistleblowers.
Paul began his “Common Sense with Paul Jacob” commentary in 1999, and for a decade he produced these weekly commentary spots for the radio. Now, a decade later, he begins to podcast. Catch him on SoundCloud, and soon to a podcast service you use:
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Cry of Independence
On November 10, 1821, the First Cry of Independence in the small, interior town of Villa de los Santos, occurred in Panama. The November 10 date has since become Panama’s “Cry of Independence Day” in the country. November is a month of independence celebrations in Panama, but the November 10 celebration marks the first signs of the struggle for separation from Spain.
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William H. Prescott
In contemplating the religious system of the Aztecs, one is struck with its apparent incongruity, as if some portion of it had emanated from a comparatively refined people, open to gentle influences, while the rest breathes a spirit of unmitigated ferocity.
William H. Prescott, History of the Conquest of Mexico, chapter three
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Feeling Good After an Election
The first half of This Week in Common Sense for the first full week of November, 2019:
Paul began his Common Sense with Paul Jacob commentary in 1999, and for a decade he produced these weekly commentary spots for the radio. Now, a decade later, he begins to podcast. Catch him on SoundCloud, and soon to a podcast service you use:
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Close Call
On November 9, 1979, NORAD computers and the Alternate National Military Command Center in Fort Ritchie, Maryland, detected an apparent massive Soviet nuclear strike. After reviewing the raw data from satellites and checking the early-warning radars, the alert was cancelled.
“Knowledge is the conformity of the object and the intellect.”
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Whistles Blown
Corey Feldman, former child actor and defender of Hollywood children from sexual abuse by entertainment industry movers and shakers, had given many clues about who his particular abuser was. On the Dr. Oz show, recently, Feldman still wouldn’t name the name, because, he said, he lacked legal representation on this matter.
Dr. Oz nevertheless revealed the name of the man whom Feldman alleges abused him.
Feldman looked awfully uncomfortable for the rest of the interview.
Meanwhile, the corporate press has been very “conscientious” to protect the name of the “whistleblower” on Donald Trump’s call to Ukraine that has spurred impeachment inquiries. The name has been known for a long time, but was recently and at long-last revealed by Donald Trump., Jr..
The man in question appears to be a Democratic partisan, had worked for Vice President Biden, had been sacked from the White House for being a suspected leaker, and had waited until after he had talked with Impeacher-in-Chief Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Cal.) before filing his whistleblowing paperwork.* Special legislation protects him from being fired from his current government job. But not from being named. Yet the mainstream news outlets “valiantly” protected the man’s identity from the public.
Then there’s the Amy Robach story. Ms. Robach had been caught on tape complaining about how ABC had squelched her Jeffrey Epstein story, years ago, robbing her of a scoop. An ABC employee had leaked the tape, and it became news. ABC figured out who had leaked it, and realized they couldn’t fire her because she had moved on to CBS. So ABC asked CBS to fire her.**
Courteously, CBS complied.
The press seems awfully inconsistent in protecting whistleblowers.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob. And Jeffrey Esptein didn’t kill himself.
* Amazingly, Mark S. Zaid, the whistleblower’s lawyer, had been talking “coup” in 2017 (see discussion by Ben Shapiro).
** I see no reports naming the worker.
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Montana was admitted into the United States federal union as the 41st state on November 8, 1889. On the same date in 1960, John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon in one of the closest presidential elections of the 20th century, becoming the 35th president of the United States.